Method and means for the registration of motor vehicles



W. D. POWELL METHOD AND MEANS FOR THE REGISTRATION OF MOTOR VEHICLES Filed June 11, 1923 WDPOWQH A TTOR/VEYS atent Nov. 25, 1924.

P A T E N T WALTER DUNNING POWELL, OF FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA.

METHOD AND MEANS FOR THE REGISTRATION OF MOTOR Application filed June 11, 1923. Serial No. 644,762.

' methods and means for the registration of motor vehicles, and particularly to a process and means for registering motor vehicles so that the theft and subsequent alteration of the identification marks may be readily detected, and it consists in the steps hereinafter described, and the combinations, constructions, and arrangements herein described and claimed.

An object of my invention is to provide a method and means of the character described by means of which a central intelligence bureau may have complete record of the identification of all motor vehicles and the identification marks secretly recorded'in the department.

A further object of my invention is to provide a method and means of the character described in which an identification tag is securely fixed to the motor vehicle in such a manner as to revent its removal without mutilation of t e vehicle of a character which would be readily noticed.

A further object of my invention is to provide in a method and means of the character described .secretidentification numbers which are laced upon certain obscure parts of the vehicle and which parts are supplied by the intelligence department toreplace the original part after the vehicle has been sold by the dealer to a bona fide customer.

A further object of my invention is to rovide a method and means of the character described in which an arrangement of records is used to immediately ascertain whether any of the identification marks, such as the license ta serial number, or the engine number of t e vehicle, have been altered since the vehicle has passed into the hands of the bona fide purchaser and of record in the intelligence department.

Other objects and advantages w1ll appear in the following specification, and the novel features of the Invention will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims. a My invention is partially disclosed 1n the drawings accompanying this application, in Which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of an identification tag secured upon the exterior wall of the cowl of a motor vehicle,

Figure 2 is a sectional view along the line 2-2 of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a view of the mechanism ilhistrated in Figure 2 withthe lock nut in P Figure 4 is a rear elevation of the mechanism illustrated in Figure 1, and

Figure 5 is a side elevation of a bolt for use on a motor vehicle on which the secret identification number is placed.

In carrying out my invention, I cooperate with the manufacturers of the motor vehicle. Each manufacturer is supplied with a pair of cardboard tags or forms printed upon a single sheet of cardboard and perforated so that the cardboard may be separated to form two separate tags. The first tag which I choose to number form Aa bears the following notation:

1-837 30 Eng No 7341412 Special Touring License Tag No Date Signature of owner of car Name of A ent Town ounty -State i agency for otor Vehicle Dpt, insert tag No.

and mail.

Directly on the back of form Aa is the address of the headquarters department or intelligence department through which I operate my improved means and method for 1-83730 Eng No 7341412 Special Touring Name -J'Iown County State Dealer Date Mfr represent 1- See other side do! owners signature.

Form Bb bears the following notation:

sentative or vehicle dealer.

' license tag will insert the number 0 I hereby delegate to of Registration Headquarters of my power of attorney, to act for me in any manner necessary should m c-ar registered under serial No. 837 30 be stolen.

- Signed Witness Date The essence of the notation on the form Bb is a power of attorney, delegating the registration or intelligence headquarters to act as the attorney for the customer buying the motor vehicle in case the vehicle is stolen.

At the time the manufacturer disposes of the vehicles, he sends. them tohis repre- The engine number of the car is place on each of the forms Aa and Ba. bear a serial No. I-837 30 in the present case, which is the number used by the intelli ence department for identification. The ealer receives the motor vehicle with the tags attached to one another and comprising a sin le pieceof cardboard erforated at their dividing point. When t e customer purchases acar, the dealer will fill in form Aa with his name, the town, county, and State in which the sale was made, and the name of theprincipal of the agent. He will thereupon tear the part Aa from the form- Ba and forward the form Aa directly to the Secretary of State, along with the necessary money which the purchaser will. pay. for the re 'stration of his vehicle in accordance with t e statutes for his license tag.

The Secretary of State when issuing the t e I license tag upon the form Aa, and thereupon drop the form Aa-Ab into a mail box, whereby it will actuate asa mailin card andbe received, by the intelligence epartment whose address-is on the opposite side.

The dealer will fill in the form Ba with the name of the purchaser, his own name, and the manufacturer represented. The

. owner will execute the power of attorney on form Rb and this portion of thetag will be mailed directly to the intelli ence department whose address appears a so on the reverse. side of form Aa- In order that the information which is given on the forms Aa and Ba may also be rmanently fixed to the motor vehicle, the ealer is supplied with a plurality of tags 1 mg having numbers 2 thereupon correspon with the serial number appearing on the forms Aa andBa. This tag 1 is of metal and has a substantially square boss 3 on each side from which pro ects a threaded bolt 4. A quadrangular opening 5 is Pr These forms also each.

and a card or form Ea is. also sent. i

vided through the cowl of the vehicle which may be plamly seen by the dealer, and the tag placed through the opening so that the portion 3 may closely -fit and fill the openmg. A felt washer 8 is disposed on the outer side of the cowl 9 and a compression spring 10 is dis osed concentric with the bolt and arrange to bear upon the cowl 9. A spanner nut 11 is threaded upon the bolt 4, there being an annular recess 12 on the inner wall of the nut 11. I v V The bolt 4 is provided with a recess 13 adjacent its inner end in which a sprin .In permanently fixing the ta lupon the motor vehicle, the dealer has on to ti hten the spanner nut 11 from the position s own in Figure 2 to that positionshown in Figure 3 and at that time the sleeve 15 is tightened out of engagement with the plunger .14 and the nut 11 permitted to move over the plunger until the plunger is forced into there tress 12, at which time the .nut will be positively locked against dislodgment upon the It will be noted that great force will be required to remove the identification tag from the vehicle and that its removal will leave anopening through the cowl of the vehicle which will be readily noticed b members of the police department-who will be on the lookout for such indications of tampering. 7

Upon receipt ofthe'form Aaand the form Bb from the dealer, the intelligence department or registration headquarters will mail the bill of sale, which contains the following notationto the dealer:

This bill of sale 'will be properly executed "and given to the owner to carry about with him. The registration headquarters will mail directlyto the-owner a bolt-6 having a secret number 7 "-(see Figure 5). thereu on,

f r E the following notation partment.

I-83730-41 sent on recei t of No. 1b. The bolt enclosed ho ds the fan bracket. As you 'will note in the illustration marked. You will exchange the bolts and after acknowledge is made on the reverse of this card you will mail the bolt removed together with this card to, R. H.

- Fargo, N. 1)., U. S. A. I Is serial number plate on your-car? Yes. No. (Illustration) See other side.

form Ea, which .form I have designated below as Eb- This is-to certify that I Y of co. State..,.

have carried out the instructions re-. quested on the opposite side of this card.

Signed Acknowledgement.

.The owner will thereupon exchange the bolt illustrated in Figure 5 and containing the secret code number for the bolt already upon the vehicle, and will return the bolt originally provided by the registration headquarters or. intelligence department, with the executed form Eb.

Upon receipt of the form tration headquarters orintelligence department will issue a certificate bearing the following notation and which I choose to designate as form F.

Registration Head uarters, R. H. Fargo, N. D., S. A. This is to certify that of 'has compliedwith-all the govisions of registration of,

v rial Special Touring. Engine No.

I-83730 I 7341412 Date 1 This certificate is one which certifies that:

- the registrant has complied with all of the provisions for the 'stration of his vehicle and is therefore entitled to the benefits derived therefrom. It will benoted at this Eb, the regis r :termined b telligence' epartmentwho will; have the and willknow on; 'ust what art of the-ear .the.number has art can 'be'r'emoved and time that the secret number 7 which is stamped upon the bolt or part 6 is merel a mutilation of the serial No. 1-83730 and t at a code key must be employed to decipher the secret number 7, which code key is in possession of the registration headquarters alone. It will be noted that the number 41 has been added to the serial number of the car on form Ea. This number .41 designates what part the bolt 6 is. I choose to emplo a large number of parts which may be rea ily sent throughthe mail and therefore while one owner may receive a fan bracket bolt, the next owner mayreceive a bolt for the .crank case or the cylinder head, each of which will have its own number identifying the bolt used in place of the number 41 added to the serial number at the registration headquarters.

It will be apparent that a large number of vehicle owners who are already in posession of a motor vehicle will desire the registration of their vehicle at this common regis'tration headquarters or intelligence de-' partment. To this end I provide an identification card which I choose to designate as form I) This card bears the following notation: l

w)- a I i Identificatlon Card,

' Registration Headquarters-form, I R. H. Far N. D., U. S. A. I Serial Special ouring Engine No. 1-83730' 7341412 Issued this the day of; 192-10 "of County of State-' g Application recommended by Agent Dealer for .This card is sent directly to the dealer upon recei t of an application from the dealer in beha f of-the owner, in place of the bill of sale. TheflformsEa, Eb, and F would be sent directly to the owner from. the information contained on the card made by the dealer in behalf of the owner.

From the foregoin various parts of the evice, the operation "thereof may be readily understood. My improved method and meansfor registering motor vehicles is one in which .a'com lete comprehensive record of. the identity 0 the owner of the vehicle may be found at a single glance at the re 'stration card and the engine number 0 "the motor vehicle'is description of the I tampered with, its identity may be-still-deserial number on the tag en-pla examined. The co e number onthat portion willohw with the tag number if the communicating with I the inserial number has not been tampered with and the identity of the owner of the car at once established even though the engine numberhas been changed. If, however, the serial number and the engine number have both been changed, the representative or agent of the registration or intelligence department may with little work, remove the arts of the vehicle on which the secret numrs are known to be placed until the part is 1 found, at which time the secret number thereonjwill be deciphered and the serial number ascertained and therefore identity of the true owner of the car established.

It will be apparent therefore that thieves would hesitate to steal a motor vehicle on which it is known that such registration means is employed, and that the main stitution of a part of said motor vehicle for the original part, said first named part having le ends thereon in code corresponding with t e legends on said identification tag.

2, Means for marking a motor vehicle for identification which consists of an identification tag arranged to be projected through an opening provided in the cowl of said motor vehicle, whereby said tag may be plainly visible on theexterior wall of said cowl, means forlocking said tag against dislodgment from said cowl, said tag bearlng legends designating a serial number peculiar to that of the motor vehicle on which the tag is placed, and in the substitution of a part of said motor vehicle for the corresponding original part of said motor vehicle, said vsubstituted. part havin legends thereonin code corresponding with the le ends on said identification tag.

cans for marking a motor vehicle for 3. identification whic'hgconsistsin an identification ta having a number thereupon arranged or projection throughan opening provided in the cowl of'a-motorvehicle, whereby that portion of the tag bearing a number is exposed on the exterior wall of a the cowl and plainly visible to the observers, means for permanently locking the tag against removal, said means comprising a lock nut arranged to be threaded upon the exteriorly threaded portion of said tagmember' on the inner'wall of said cowl, a com-I.

pression spring fastened upon the inner wall of said cowl and said lock nut, a spring pressed plunger carried by said threaded tag member arranged to engage with the recess provided on the exteriorly-threaded portion of said lock nut and, means disposed concentric with the threaded portion ofsaid tag member for holding said spring pressed plunger with its outermost end continuous with the wall of the threaded portion of the tag member when the lock nut is being moved into its final locked position.

WALTER DUNNING POWELL. 

